By your side
by Joey8
Summary: A collection of Drabbles and Oneshots I wrote years ago. Some of them are related to my story "For want of a horse", some of them are based on a scene from the Manga, some of them are not. Haru Rin.
1. Orange

**By your side - A collection of Haru+Rin Drabbles and Oneshots. **

This was written to clear my head, to write down ideas that kept coming up or for pure entertainment.

Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.

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**Chapter 1 – Orange**

"Want some?", he asked and offered a slice of the neatly peeled orange without turning from where he had made himself comfortable in the windows seat.

Rin looked up from where she sat on the floor at the low table, unseeingly staring at a book she was supposed to read for a homework assignment. Staring at the orange, she swallowed the bitter words that sat so readily on her tongue and just took the offered slice.

"What's so fascinating out there?", she huffed, before she reluctantly bit into the ripe fruit.

"Nothing", he simply answered without elaborating. She didn't question him further.

She fixed a stare at the open book in front of her – a text she didn't have even the slightest interest in. With a sigh she leaned back over the text, keeping up the pretense of actually reading, although she didn't turn a page in minutes.

"You don't have to act as if, Rin. Not with me." She looked up again, looking at Haru's face that was turned away from her.

With a sigh of defeat she shut the book, propping the rest of the orange slice into her mouth and took out the sketchbook and pencil from her bag and leaned back against the wall. Haru didn't move, knowing without looking that he was once more the model for one of her drawings.

For a long time they didn't talk, simply enjoyed the presence of the other one. After some time Haru shut his eyes, lulled into sleepiness by the regular sound of the pencil on paper and the chirping birds in the garden.

He opened his eyes, when he heard her shut the scratch book.

"Can I move?"

"Yes." He didn't ask her to see the drawing, he knew that she didn't like to show her unfinished pieces. Later today she would refine the scratch, maybe even color it.

"I'm hungry. How about we go out and get something to eat?", he asked. She looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"That's fine", she said, although her voice said otherwise. She stood up, packing her sketchbook and stuff back into her bag.

She could actually feel his eyes on her, could feel the worry he radiated. Lately she hadn't been eating regularly and it was showing. Had it been any other person but Haru suggesting to get something edible, she would have answered it was none of their business. Haru was different though. He really wanted her to be okay.

Still it made her uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of those calculating looks, even if it was Haru.

"Don't look at me like that", she said, her voice harsher than she intended.

"Sorry", he said softly. She was silent for a moment.

"No. It's… okay. With you it's okay." She pushed some strands of hair out of her face with an helpless gesture that revealed more than her voice that she really was sorry for her harsh tone. He laid one arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him and pressing her body to his for a moment.

Her head dropped to his shoulder out of habit, while he let his fingers glide through her long black hair.

"Let's go?", he asked in a soothing voice and she nodded.

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The End

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	2. Festival

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 2 – Festival**

"I want this one". Kisa pointed to a sleek and rather small but brilliant orange fish in the basin. "It looks like you, Hiro-chan".

"We'll be lucky to catch a fish at all. There's no way to single one out", Hiro huffed, but nevertheless leaned further over the basin, calculating his chances to get her favourite fish.

"But he really does look like you, Hiro-kun. You have to get him", Kagura cried and slapped him on the back, nearly sending the sheep head first into the water, if Rin hadn't grabbed his shoulder.

"Watch it, Kagura-nee!", he growled and threw a quick soft smile at Rin, his older sister in mind if not in blood. Then he looked into the basin again. "Where did it go?"

"There. It's over there", Kakeru said and pointed to the far corner of the basin, where the fish slowly made its way along the sides of the basin.

"It comes this way", Kisa whispered in excitement, pointing to the fish again.

"Haru, can I ask you something". The ox looked up from where he had watched his girlfriend kneeling in front of the basin, side by side with some of his family and Yuki's friends from school.

"Sure. What is it?", he answered and turned towards Yuki who was leaning beside him against a wall, a short distance away from the group. Haru followed the rat's gaze for a moment and saw Yuki's girlfriend, Machi, who quietly stood beside the chattering group.

"I… I'm wondering…" Yuki was silent for a long moment and Haru didn't push him, silently observing how the rat nervously nestled with his zipper.

"I wonder… how it feels."

"How what feels?", Haru asked and looked at Yuki, who turned very red. He hadn't seen the older boy blush in a long time, and Haru smiled softly.

"Well… I mean… well."

"You mean sex?". The choking sound from Yuki was enough to answer his question and Haru grinned.

"I… Yeah."

"How far did you two go already?", Haru asked and watched in satisfaction as Yuki blushed again.

"Well… No more than kissing and embracing. I still…" The rat smiled softly. "I still try to get used to being embraced at all. It was… so sudden." Haru nodded in answer.

"Yeah. It was." For a moment both of them were lost in memories of the not-so-long-ago past, were they were still cursed, ruled by god and their own fears.

"It's great", Haru finally said.

"Yeah, it's good that it broke. The curse", Yuki answered.

"I meant sex. You wanted to know what it feels like. It feels great. It's…" Yuki watched how Haru's gaze flickered to his girlfriend again, his eyes so full of emotions that only shared history allowed Yuki to decipher some of them. Pure love most of all. But there was more. Haru's eyes were those of a man who had gone through hell, and came still out alive.

'Broken, and still breathing', Yuki thought, although he knew this wasn't entirely true. Broken Haru had been when Rin had left him. Now, with her by his side again, even Yuki could see how these two were healing. They were healing each other.

"Two halves of a single being, those two are. They can't be separated".

"I guess you're right", Haru said and only then did Yuki realize that he had said this last thought out aloud. For a moment Yuki feared that he had voiced something that was too intimate, too deep, too personal to be voiced by outsiders, but then Haru gave him a real true smile.

"It's good to see you smiling like that again, Haru", the rat said and smiled back.

"It's good to feel complete again. You weren't too far off with your thought", Haru said back and looked at Rin again. She looked up that very moment and smiled, seeing Haru's eyes on her.

"I guess, I have to find out what it feels like on my own, huh?", Yuki finally said after a moment of silence. Haru looked at him seriously.

"Yeah. I guess". Haru was silent for a moment. "I wouldn't know how to describe it anyway. It's like… coming home. Like getting a part of yourself back that you didn't know was missing. It's… completion." Yuki looked at the ox silently.

"You… just described it perfectly". Yuki took a deep breath. "Let's go back to the others", he said and pushed himself away from the wall.

"Yeah. Yuki? Good luck." Haru winked at him, before walked back to the group, immediately taking Rin into his arms and whispering something into her ear, that made her grin and slap his arm, while he smiled down at her. Yuki sighed, slowly walking to Machi's side. She looked at him wordlessly.

In the background he heard the group of his family and friends crying in triumph, when Hiro caught the fish, but the sound was lost to him when Machi graced him with a wide smile and he embraced her in answer. Over her shoulder he could see Haru giving him the thumbs-up.

"Ganbatte, Yuki!", Haru said over the noise and Yuki grinned in return.

"I will. You too, Haru."

"Hey, I always give my very best". He grinned at Rin, before he swooped down for a kiss.

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The End

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	3. Angel

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 3 – Angel**

He stumbled over a stone and fell.

His knee was bleeding and he tried to fight the rising tears.

Even if he would call for his mother, he knew she wouldn't come. So he tried to not show his misery. Still he couldn't hold it in and he felt a sob wrack his small body.

"The ox… dumb and stupid. And clumsy", he could hear some adults laughing in the background. A tear fell from his eyes.

"Are you alright?", someone asked beside him and he looked up, staring in the eyes of an angel. He sniffed and wiped his tears away with his sleeve.

"Did you hurt your knee? You're bleeding…" The angel kneeled down beside him and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, carefully cleaning the wound on his knee. Did angels carry handkerchiefs with them?

"Who… who are you?", he asked, looking at her without blinking, afraid that she might just disappear if he looked away.

"I'm Sohma Isuzu. And who are you?". Isuzu... The name didn't fit her at all. It sounded so… distant.

"Sohma Hatsuharu." She nodded softly, gracing him with a smile, before she stood up.

"Can you walk, Hatsuharu-chan?", she asked and he got to his feet clumsily.

"You can… you can call me Haru", he said softly, lowering his head blushing, when she looked at him intently with those deep black eyes of hers.

"O-okay… Haru-chan. Are you…" She was silent for a moment. "You are one of us, aren't you?" He looked at her confused.

"One of… Oh! You mean the juushi… juu…" He fought with the word he heard recently. "You mean those animals?" She nodded slowly and he smiled.

"Yeah. I'm the ox. And you?"

"The horse", she simply said. "I knew you were one of us. I could feel it."

"Feel it?"

"Yes. The bond. Can't you feel the connection?", she asked and he was silent for a moment, trying to feel something.

And then he felt it. A tug between his heart, a whisper along his spine, a prickling sensation under his skin. And it all formed a string – no, many strings. But one lead to her. Directly to her.

It brought sudden tears to his eyes.

"You can feel it", she said smiling.

"We are… connected?", he asked.

"Yeah. We all are."

"Isuzu-chan!"

"That's my mother… I have to go." She turned and he gasped, feeling as if he was thrown into a pool of ice water.

"Wa… Wait!", he cried and she stopped, looking at him curiously. "What about… this connection? Won't it break?"

She stared at him in surprise before she laughed softly.

"Of course not. You can't break it. It's always there."

"Can I see you again?"

"We will always meet again, Haru-chan", she said and then she ran to her mother.

He stared after her, concentration on the feeling of belonging, that still whispered over his skin.

"Until next time, angel." And then he walked back to his own mother.

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The End

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	4. Shooting Star

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 4 – Shooting star**

"What would you wish for on a shooting star?", Haru asked softly and Rin turned her head to look at him curiously. She could barely make out his eyes in the darkness, but she felt his gaze on her. Warm, soft and deep, enveloping her in a sense of comfort and security, like only Haru's eyes made her feel.

"I don't know", she answered.

"Don't your have any wishes?", he asked again. And she didn't answer, because they both knew that she had far more than one wish.

"What I wish for the most can't become true by a shooting star. It's too much to ask for. I don't believe in this kind of thing anyway", she finally said and Haru didn't question her further.

For a long time they just stared up into the night sky, looking at the stars.

They both saw the shooting star at the same time. Haru sat up in excitement and pointed to it.

"Did you see it?", he asked and laid down again.

"Yeah." For a moment she was silent. "Haru, did you wish for something?"

"Yeah. Do you want to know what?". He turned to her again.

"You can't tell, because it won't come true if you did", she silenced him and smiled. She didn't need to hear his wish to know what it was. She could hear the love and longing in his voice.

Then she saw another star fall and this time she closed her eyes, sending a silent prayer to the sky.

"Did you make a wish?", he asked.

"Yeah."

"I thought you didn't believe in this kind of thing."

"Just to make sure", she answered and stared up into the sky again.

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The End

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	5. Promises

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 5 – Promises**

Haru watched as Rin swung higher and higher on the swing, all flying hair and happy laughter.

He opened the box of cookies and ripped the chocolate wrapping paper open, broke the bars into equal pieces and smiled up at her, when she came to his side and sat down beside him.

"Rin, when I'm all grown up, I want to marry you", he said.

"Why?", she asked surprised, but she was smiling as well.

"Because you are pretty and nice and I… I like you." He looked down to the ground blushing sweetly. Rin laughed softly.

"I like you too, Haru-chan." She took a piece of the chocolate and hummed softly.

They ate the chocolate in silence, then fed some of the cookies to a few birds that hopped around them.

"It's time to go home, I think", Rin said after a long time and stood up. The birds flew up, landing on a tree nearby.

"Yeah". Together they picked up the paper.

"You know, Haru-chan… When you really want to marry me, you have to be taller than me. That's how it is, isn't it? The boy has to be taller than the girl, right?", Rin said thoughtfully. Haru looked at her.

"Yeah… That's how it is."

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Rin didn't remember this conversation they had had a long time ago on the playground when they were both children.

Haru never forgot.

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The End

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	6. First Times

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 6 – First times**

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The first time they met, Haru's knee was bleeding and she was the only one that came to his side, softly cleaning the wound with her handkerchief. The first time he looked into her eyes, he thought he saw an angel.

The first time he saw her dance at New Year he was 5 years old. Still he could remember every moment of it as clearly as if it just happened a moment ago. He still remembered the grace, the fluid movements, the strength that seemed to be entirely her own. She had been beautiful, perfect, almost too beautiful to be true. Haru thought that back then he had lost his heart to her.

The first time he saw her cry, was when her parents abandoned her, told her that they didn't know how to love her anymore. He still remembered her crestfallen look as her world, and her heart, and her soul shattered. And that moment she cried, without tears. But her heart was crying. And Haru let the tears fall, that she couldn't.

The first time he turned black in her presence was when someone teased him about his hair. He didn't even remember who made the remark, but he remembered the moment he lost control over his violent side. He remembered that he wanted to hurt the person and he remembered that he suddenly felt two thin but surprisingly strong arms around his body and her voice in his ear. He remembered how she whispered that everything is okay. And he remembered how she later told him, that she liked his hair.

The first time he drank alcohol was with her as well. He had wanted to prove that he was already 'grown up' and had sneaked out a bottle of whatever it was out of his fathers stocking. Later they opened the bottle together, both looking disgusted when they sniffed the liquid curiously. But still, they both took a large gulp. Rin spit it out again, he swallowed. Haru remembered the funny feeling and he remembered how suddenly the world seemed to spin too fast. He remembered how Rin told him to sleep. She had held him the entire time.

The first time he realized his feelings for her was when she helped him with his homework. While she patiently explained something, he suddenly looked at her and felt his heart stopping. He suddenly was very aware of the warmth of her body, the scent of her hair, of how close she was sitting next to him. He must have stared, because then she looked at him and asked if he was alright. He had simply nodded. This awareness, those feelings she alone awoke never left him again.

The first time she realized his feelings for her was when he waited for her in front of her school, patiently leaning against the wall that surrounded the compound. She remembered seeing him and then she had looked at him, really looked at him. And she saw the changes. He was still the boy she remembered, but she could already see the man he would become. She had blushed, glad that he hadn't seen her yet. And then he looked up and smiled at her. And she had known, simply known, that she couldn't keep this feelings bottled up inside of her forever.

The first time they kissed was only a few weeks after she recognized her feelings for him. He asked her if he could kiss her, and although she tried to talk him out of it – a poor attempt, she had to admit – he silenced her with the truth. They loved each other. She couldn't argue with that. His lips on hers had felt good, so soft yet strong, inexperienced yet eager. The kiss marked the day of their downfall. There was no way they could have stopped the spiral that took them both higher and downwards at the same time.

The first time they made love was when they saw a glimpse of paradise. Never had she thought that her body could feel such feelings. Yet his hands, his lips, his tongue on her skin, everywhere at once, pulled her into a place she had never known. Soft caresses, suppressed moans, stroking fingers, searching lips and hands, and then sliding home, completion. Movement, groans, a rhythm getting faster, her name on his lips and his on hers and then feeling, breaking, shuddering. And then the words again that she feared and longed to hear all the same. I love you.

The first time she hurt him was when she needed him the most. She had been falling, willingly taking the blame, protecting him. She hurt him when she broke his heart, because she had to. To keep him safe.

The first time she cried was the day her deepest wish came true. She felt the bond break and her first thought was 'Free'. And yet she felt the tears of misery rising in her eyes, the separation, the loneliness, the longing. She felt his hands on her only moments later, enveloping her trembling form in a hug that was reassuring, comforting and desperate all the same. A small reminder that he was still there, even though she couldn't feel him anymore.

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The End

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	7. Monsters in the Dark

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 7 – Monsters in the dark**

She didn't realize she was screaming and she didn't realize that what she was seeing was not real.

Only when she feels his hands on her, when she hears his voice calling her name, does she come awake.

"Haru…", she whispers into the darkness. A small and pitiful cry for comfort and she hates herself for the despair and tremor in her voice.

Still he answers her call by wrapping his arms around her. His voice in her ear is soothing, the warmth of his body comforting, as it washes away the tenseness in her muscles.

"Did you have a nightmare again, love?", he asks softly and she nods in answer. She doesn't trust her voice.

Instead she presses herself against him, and he holds her tighter.

"I'm fine", she finally says. "I'm fine… Because you're here." He strokes her hair and kisses her temple.

"You didn't have a nightmare for some time…" His voice sounds insecure. She kisses his throat.

"I always sleep better with you by my side", she says and buries her face against his shoulder.

"Just not tonight…"

"Just not tonight", she echoes and let herself sink back into the pillow.

"Can you go back to sleep?", he asks and she nods again.

"You chase the monsters away."

"I try", he says and lays down beside her, wrapping her in his arms again.

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The End

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	8. Tea Time

**Disclaimer: No money made, Fruits Basket is Takaya Natsuki's.**

**Chapter 8 – Tea time**

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Rin opened her eyes again and looked into the sunny garden outside. A bee on its way to the next full-blooming flower flew past the wide open shoji-doors, the sounds of the insect unnaturally loud in the serene silence of Kazuma's dojo.

She looked down into the cup of tea in front of her. It was not the best brewed tea, but it was brewed with love. Haru had prepared it, insisting that she was still too weak and should rather rest than 'running around the dojo', as he had put it.

Her argument, that she would simply walk to the kitchen and back fell on deaf ears.

She knew that Haru was worried about her and so she didn't argue further. She simply let herself been taken care of for once.

She hated being a burden and so she didn't show her weakness in front of other people, but with Haru it was different.

He knew her, almost a little too well sometimes.

She took a sip of the tea. He had used too much tea leaves and the liquid was bitter, but she appreciated the rich taste and the warmth that settled in her stomach.

She smiled at Haru, who set at the opposite side of the table and who, until now, had been just as lost in thoughts.

He took a sip of the tea as well and grimaced. She smiled and took another sip.

For a moment she wished that she could freeze time like this – sunshine, peace and Haru by her side. She wanted this for ever. She wanted to stay by his side for the rest of her life.

She felt his hand on hers and she looked up to meet his eyes again.

The eyes were a window to the soul. Haru's eyes always reflected his emotions and so she could read the message in them as plainly as if they were written on paper.

In his eyes she saw a promise.

_For ever_.

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The End

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